Night Visit to the Morgue

A few days ago, several members of the Qingshan Archaeological Team went missing in Cloud Mountain, leaving no trace behind.

This disappearance occurred right after the excavation of the Gutuo Kingdom's royal tomb.

Li Fan had specifically looked into the relevant information two days ago. He hadn't thought much of it at first, but after seeing the Han-style Tree Spirit Jade Figurine, he immediately made the connection.

Wu Qian's expression turned solemn as he said:

"That's right, you even managed to spot that... These tree-men were found by the Investigation Department deep within Cloud Mountain. To be precise, what they found was an entire forest of them."

Li Fan nodded slightly.

First, there were the amalgams of fused humans, then the tree-men—a fusion of humans and trees—and now the royal tomb of the Gutuo Kingdom.

The shadow of the Unity Society was definitely behind all of this!

The jade figurine before him was certainly not simple, but now was not the time for a thorough investigation. It looked like he would have to come back tonight.

"Fan, I didn't realize you were so knowledgeable about ancient jade. Where did you learn all this?" Wu Qian asked, placing the reassembled figurine into a storage box with a satisfied look.

Li Fan gave a dry laugh and said:

"My father taught me. He liked to collect antiques when he was young."

In reality, it was how I made a living in my past life, but I'm afraid telling you that would scare you to death.

"No wonder, a family tradition," Wu Qian nodded in satisfaction, looking at Li Fan with increasing approval. "Any other new discoveries?"

His eyes were full of encouragement.

Li Fan quickly replied:

"No, Director Wu, I was just asking blindly. I've only been working here for a few days, what could I possibly know..."

What could a salted fish like me possibly know?

"Alright, hurry off to the cafeteria to eat. If you go any later, there won't be any food left."

Li Fan immediately placed the small jade figurine into the containment room, then changed into casual clothes to go eat.

Unlike before, many young employees now knew that he had been promoted to a permanent position on his very first day. Although a small minority were unconvinced, the majority were filled with envy.

When Li Fan appeared in the cafeteria, the number of people who took the initiative to greet him was dozens of times higher than before—previously, it had only been Zhao Lei.

After eating, he went straight back to the office to nap for a while, waiting for work to resume.

Because they had worked overtime in the morning, many colleagues simply started their afternoon shift early—beginning work at 2:30 PM.

Wu Qian was deeply moved; a crisis truly reveals one's character.

The main task for everyone that afternoon was to organize the files on today's anomalies, which involved photographing, recording, scanning, and filing them into their respective categories.

This work was even more tedious than dissecting corpses.

It was nothing but tiresome paperwork.

The long two-and-a-half-hour afternoon shift finally dragged to an end, and the staff of the Dissection Department, who rarely worked overtime, scattered like birds and beasts.

Li Fan deliberately dawdled and dragged his feet, waiting until everyone had left before stepping out of his office.

Zhang Hongbing was on duty tonight.

Li Fan said to Zhang Hongbing:

"Master Zhang, I feel like there might be some residue left on the corpse we dissected this morning. I'm going to go take another look."

Zhang Hongbing was watching TV while smoking, and he nodded approvingly:

"You're a leader now, you don't need to ask me for permission. Just go take a look; it's good to see a young man with such drive!"

Li Fan scratched his head in embarrassment and walked into the basement.

After his experience with the amalgam, he understood that there might very well be something else hidden inside that jade carving or the corpses.

The thick, black fungal threads on the jade carving alone were enough to put him on high alert.

After suppressing the Tiger Pillar God last time, his mental energy had increased significantly, and he wanted to see if there were any more benefits to be gained this time.

There was no helping it; he had to strive to become stronger just to stay alive.

Besides, he also needed to find clues about the Unity Society to settle the score for his promotion.

The constant appearance of these fused anomalies in Gu City made one feel that something major was bound to happen.

After the corpses were processed in the morning, the final mental radiation had dropped to a very low level, and the Tree Spirit Jade Figurine was kept in a specialized containment box, so it wouldn't have much of an effect.

Therefore, Li Fan didn't bother wearing a protective suit and went straight to the containment room.

The containment room was empty, save for various containment boxes resting on the shelves.

Inside were all the items left behind after the processing of previous anomalous events.

However, according to veterans like Zhang Hongbing, the containment items from the past usually had no mental radiation left after being processed, unlike the bizarre ones they dealt with now.

Soon, Li Fan found the box containing the Tree Spirit Jade Figurine he had stored there earlier.

The shattered jade figurine had been glued back together with blood plasma, and now, streaks of blood-red marks permeated its body, looking like a crimson spiderweb.

It lay in the box, wearing a wicked smile on its face.

Gently flicking the lighter open, the blood-red glow illuminated the Tree Spirit Jade Figurine, revealing clusters of black mold that had nearly filled the containment box, threatening to spill over.

Deep within the Tree Spirit Jade Figurine, something was clearly writhing.

In the next instant, as if sensing Li Fan's gaze, a small snake with a human face emerged from within the figurine, flashing a seductive smile at Li Fan that looked utterly evil.

Had it not been for the special materials of the containment box, the mental radiation from this human-faced snake would have certainly affected Li Fan.

Li Fan carried the box to a blind spot for the security cameras, checked his surroundings to ensure he was alone, and slashed his hand through the void. He gripped the phantom bronze chains attached to the Tiger Pillar God and yanked them out with a violent tug.

Immediately, a shimmering light the size of a tabby cat was pulled from the void and attached itself to Li Fan's body.

Under the blood-red light, Li Fan's entire body radiated a sickly green mental aura: tiger head, human torso, python arms, crocodile claws—the Tiger Pillar God had possessed him!

Li Fan immediately felt his control over his body reach an unprecedented level; his strength surged, and his reflexes and movements became significantly more agile.

However, Li Fan could clearly sense that the Tiger Pillar God was currently terrified of him, appearing somewhat cowering and timid.

Li Fan hurriedly soothed the entity's emotions in his consciousness, urging it to calm down.

Only after being certain that Li Fan would not annihilate it did the Tiger Pillar God finally settle down, yielding to Li Fan's will and granting him its power.

Li Fan took a deep breath and opened the containment box before him.

The moment the box was opened, the previously seductive mental projection of the Human-Faced Snake bared its fangs and lunged toward Li Fan's brow!

But just then, Li Fan jerked his head forward and snapped his jaws, catching the Human-Faced Snake's mental projection in his teeth!

This action is just like a dog... Li Fan couldn't help but inwardly mock himself, despite feeling his own lightning-fast speed.

At the same time, he felt an emotion radiating from the Tiger Pillar God: an intense sense of hunger.

It was famished!

Li Fan couldn't help but chew vigorously, grinding the Human-Faced Snake's mental projection into fragments and swallowing it whole.

A strange sense of satiety washed over him—a mental fullness that made him feel as if his entire being had entered the most profound state of consciousness.

Li Fan now felt as though he had developed a split personality, with two distinct types of mental energy existing within him.

One was the mental energy of an ordinary person, with a reading of only 18.

The other was hidden deep within his subconscious, lurking like something in an abyss: the mental energy from the Prison of Suppression, the specific value of which remained unknown.

Yet, both types of mental energy were his own.

The consumed Human-Faced Snake mental projection had also merged into the mental energy of his subconscious.

It was truly a strange and profound sensation.

It was as if a person had two forms of currency: the paper bills in their wallet and the string of digits in an electronic account. Both could be spent, but others could generally only see the cash in the wallet.

As for the Tiger Pillar God's mental energy, it was like money stolen from others—free to use as he pleased.

He also gained an understanding of the Tiger Pillar God's power; at the very least, obliterating this Human-Faced Snake mental projection was effortless.

Such a weak source of infection wasn't worth locking away in the Prison of Suppression; eating it was fine.

Under the blood-red light of the lighter, as the Human-Faced Snake's mental projection vanished, the black fungal threads on the surface of the Tree Spirit Jade Figurine gradually peeled away and disappeared, leaving it looking plain and unremarkable.

After closing the lid and returning the box to its place, Li Fan headed to the morgue on the second basement level.

This place was essentially a giant walk-in freezer.

Li Fan pulled out one of the morgue drawers containing a tree-person and examined it closely.

The Tiger Pillar God was still possessing him; Li Fan's body was incredibly limber, and even his vision had become noticeably sharper, allowing him to perceive things he hadn't noticed before.

On the body of the tree-person before him, something was faintly writhing within the wounds.

This thing was clearly in a dormant state during the day, invisible even under the light of the blood-red lighter.

It was exactly the same as the Shell Currency found on the Amalgam earlier.

Li Fan's hand moved with lightning speed to grab that area, and the phantom python arm of the Tiger Pillar God shot out, burrowing into the corpse. When it retracted, it was firmly biting down on a writhing Human-Faced Snake.

This Human-Faced Snake was much smaller than the previous one, and the phantom python arm swallowed it instantly.

Li Fan felt another surge of mental energy.

This was a permanent increase in mental strength, which was extremely beneficial.

At the same time, a flood of memories rushed into his mind!

They were the memories of the archaeological team!

Cloud Mountain, the royal tomb, the black forest, and the banquet of the immortals...